800 young adult volunteers needed
2009 ELCA Youth Gathering
Eligibility à age 20-25 by July 22, 2009
Apply online starting April 15, 2008
www.elca.org/youth/gathering
Youth Specialties offers a great day workshop in Youth Ministry for adult leaders called “The Core”. There are 4 locations in/near the New England Synod: Lexington, MA; Lebanon, NH; Hartford, CT; and Albany, NY. This day event features great speakers, tons of good resources for your ministry and a chance to be around other adults who are desiring to improve their ministry skills. It is a great event for both lay leaders! More information and registration information is available at their website: http://core.go.youthspecialties.com/.
The summer is fast approaching, and March 15th is the deadline for nominations for TEY’s Summer Theological Academy (July 12-26) and Crossroads Event (June 22-28). A nomination starts the process for a youth in your synod or congregation, so don’t hesitate to nominate a youth that you feel might have their faith grow and be challenged by these programs. The Summer Theological Academy, which takes place at Susquehanna University, is coming together incredibly with a very diverse and exciting faculty, and the Crossroads Event will be encountering issues and callings ranging from disaster relief to immigration to urban ministry. Nominating a youth is as easy as hopping on-line and filling out our on-line form at http://tey.eastercluster.org/nomination_form.htm or printing off and mailing in a nomination. It is my hope that TEY can continue to grow as a resource for your congregations and synods while we work together to lift up and celebrate young leaders of the Body of Christ. Please pass along this opportunity to any youth or congregation that you see might grow from it. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or ways that TEY can continue to serve your congregations and synods.
Information about TEY is available at http://tey.easterncluster.org/.
The Get Drenched team now has 2 portable labyrinths available for use by your congregation.
The one that has been available over the past year is 24 feet (nominal size) and 12.7 feet (actual size).
We also have a new smaller one which is 12 feet (nominal) and 10.23 feet (actual).
To reserve the labyrinth for your congregation, contact Sister Virginia Strahan in the New England Synod office @ sisterv@nesynod.org.
You are invited to the first assembly of the New England Synod Mission Areas. At each assembly, Bishop Margaret G. Payne will be present to offer an opportunity for reflecting on the synod’s five year guide, “Called to Listen, Called to Live.” Other staff and resource people will be available as needed, based on the requests of the lay planning teams of the Mission Areas.
What is a Mission Area? There is no “typical” congregation in the New England synod. The large geographical territory in New England offers a wide variety of ministry contexts and mission opportunities. The formation of New England Synod Mission Areas is an endeavor to support our congregations through the gathering of conferences that share similar geography and mission opportunities.
Who is invited? Assemblies are planned by lay members of the New England Synod with the support of synod staff members. All members of the New England Synod are invited to attend.
Why attend an assembly gathering? Assembly gatherings are shaped by the needs, interests and gifts of the laity in each particular Mission area. Gathering together with members of each region, lay members will be given an opportunity for networking, developing leadership and discovering opportunities and support for lay education and ministry. In addition, there will be an opportunity to learn more about the coming synod assembly and to consider the nomination of Mission area members to synod leadership.
When and where are we gathering? Assembly gatherings will be held on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lunch provided. Mark the date and watch for more information from your Mission area planning team.
North Mission Area – Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York Conferences
Date: May 17, 2008
Place: Holy Trinity, Newington NH
East Central New England Mission Area – Boston Metro and Northeast Mass Conferences
Date: May 3, 2008
Place: St. Paul, Arlington MA
West Central New England Mission Area – Central and Western Mass Conferences
Date: April 12, 2008
Place: Bethlehem, Sturbridge MA
South Central New England – Greater Hartford Mission Area, East CT Rivers and Central CT Conferences
Date: May 10, 2008
Place: Emmanuel, Hartford CT
Southeast New England Mission Area – Southeast Mass and Rhode Island Conferences
Date: April 26, 2008
Place: Pilgrim, Warwick RI
Southeast New England Mission Area – Southwest CT, Naugatuck Valley and Greater New Haven Conferences
Date: April 19, 2008
Place: St. Paul, Torrington CT
Need more information? Contact Pastor Alice Kerr Laird, Associate to the Bishop at aklaird@nesynod.org.
If you were unable to attend our December 29th orientation meeting, we now have the presentation available for you. We encourage you to gather a group of adults and youth from your mission area to begin conversation about organizing youth-led regional ministry in your area.
The presentation is available here: http://www.slideshare.net/getdrenchedorg/slideshows
Those of you who went to the San Antonio gathering may recall the group Tangled Blue. This musical duo is planning to tour New Enlang the first three months of 2008 and is open to booking your church for concerts!
Their updated Spring Tour page is available at www.tangledblue.com/springtour.
The spring tour page has three full songs that you can download, and a promotional video that will let folks see how they make our full sound with only two people.
If you would like more tunes there are more mp3s in the “recordings” section of tangledblue.com. You can also purchase our CDs in the “store” section of tangledblue.com. We travel with a full sound system that can serve audiences of up to 500, so in most cases all we require at the performance site is an electrical outlet and an audience.
Contact Joel directly at: joel@tangledblue.com.
Emmanuel Lutheran in Manchester, CT, will be hosting a special training session for those interested in the Faith Incubators confirmation material. This popular education tool is used by many congregations in our synod.
This one-day crash course will be offered on March 8. More information is available at the FINK website: http://www.faithink.com/Inkubators/training.asp?ink=h2h
Attention: Youth Leaders and Adults in the New England Synod Community of the ELCA
We are inviting high school youth and adults from all over the New England Synod to come to explore the possibilities of youth leadership within the greater church. To give you an idea of what we are trying to accomplish is to create a group consisting of youth and adults similar to the LYO ( Lutheran Youth Organization) groups in other synods around the country within the ELCA.
Some tasks of the group may include planning an event for other
youth, bring attention at the synodical level the concerns of the youth in the church and work to make the voice of the youth heard. We hope to have several of these groups spread throughout the different areas of our synod.
This meeting is open to everyone (youth and adults) to come and learn about this great opportunity to lead in the New England Synod. Pass along this information to all youth and other adults in
your congregation or other church communities you may be connected with to attend this meeting. By attending you do not make any commitment, but a great opportunity will be introduced to those who attend. A leader can be found in anyone.
Details:
-Date: December 29,2007
-Time: 10:45 AM till 3:00 PM
-Location: Lutheran Church of the Redeemer
60 Forest Park Rd
Woburn, MA 01801
-What will we do?? We will discuss the opportunity for the youth to lead and to be heard in the church, along with playing games, and having lunch
and fellowship.
Please RSVP as soon as possible!!!
RSVP to: Steve Kennedy
stev4uth@hotmail.com
Contact us with any questions you have about anything. If you know any Adults/ Youth that are interested and can not make it that day, we can provide information for them via email. If you have any eating allergies please let us know so we can provide an alternate lunch for you if necessary.
When replying to attend this meeting answer the following questions for every person:
Full Name:
Email Address:
Church Name, City, State:
Why you are interested:
Questions you would like to be discussed:
Food Allergies:
Thank you for your time. I feel we have a lot of potential right now to get this off the ground.
Here’s the registration form to register for one of the two Asset Mapping Trainings happening this Fall.
Asset Mapping Registration Form
The first will be at the Crown Plaza, Worcester, MA, on Monday October 22 (10AM to 4 PM)
OR
at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vernon Center, CT, Saturday, November 10.
